Kurt's Capture
by Rads
Summary: CHAPTER 13! After feeling betrayed, being kidnapped, Gambit, Magneto, friends, family and trust- can Kurt find it in himself to begin to forgive? *fic completed*
1. Chapter 1: The Letter

**Disclaimer: I do not own X-men Evolution, any of its characters...anything. Please don't sue me... I have no money. Sobs  
  
  
Author: I've only seen the first season of X-men Evolution but I do have vague knowledge of the newbies like Bobby (iceman), Jubilee (oooo firework thingies) Jamie (duplicates?) and the rest from the second season but if someone could put the others names and powers in a review I'd really appreciate it!   
  
Please review but no mean flames!  
  
Chapter One: The Letter  
  
It was a Saturday. A nice sunny Saturday afternoon. The institute garden seemed to shine with dew and life as little blue birds flirted in the sky.   
  
Everybody has to love weekends, right? Everyone looks forward to them as much as they do getting mail! There are many advantages of weekends- no school, no early mornings, no stress!  
  
It was breakfast in the Institute for Gifted Youngsters and already fights were breaking out between its younger teenager residents. It was early in the morning for purposes of early training sessions in a room referred to as "The Danger Room" which of course could not be a good thing. Teenagers in the morning could not be a good thing.   
  
Kitty complained bitterly about wanting to have her breakfast in peace and preferably quiet as she attacked her healthy fruit and mineral water breakfast, Rogue looked like she usually did- annoyed and a little uneasy in case anybody dared to come too close, Evan was skateboarding around the kitchen in a suspected deliberate attempt to annoy an already distracted Scott Summer, Scott was trying to get in control of the situation but with Ray and Bobby fighting it was a difficult thing to do!   
  
Scott was perhaps the easiest person to stress out and with the threat of the kitchen either being frozen or blown up- he was indeed stressed and therefore making the efforts of Bobby and Ray more meaningful.   
  
Jamie had obviously fallen or something because five of him walked into the room and received a collective groan from everyone at the breakfast table with a few students instantly diving to get food before 'Jamie' could.   
  
Jean wasn't up yet; either that or she was fixing her hair- this was a long running joke- how long did it take Jean to get ready?   
  
Everyone else was around, Ororo making more breakfast calmly ignoring the chaos, the Professor in his study no doubt concerned about a new mutant somewhere in the world, Beast upside down somewhere. etc  
  
Amara was making a comment about peasants when she suddenly stopped and asked, "Where's Kurt?"  
  
Silence greeted her question and then a more excited, curious, buzz of talking filled the void.  
  
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Upstairs leaning on the wall next to his window, Kurt wasn't looking very well. He stood barely visible in his own room, hiding and almost invisible in the shadows though it was most likely an unconscious attempt to disappear.  
  
"I'm an experiment" Kurt slowly struggled over the words in his soft voice.   
  
The letter had only arrived this morning, and he'd only read it a few seconds ago. Kurt had thought it was odd that he'd got mail that wasn't claiming he'd won something or was post marked from his adopted parent but still he'd opened the pale blue envelope with his prized antique letter opener. He didn't know who sent it and at this point in time- he didn't care why.   
  
The only thing he cared about was what it said and that who ever wrote it knew his name, Mystic's name, Magneto's, dates and his life history. It had words talking about a castle, vaguely about Magneto and Mystic but its conclusion struck Kurt, hard, with a - you were an experiment.  
  
The writing was scrolled as if written in a hurry or a least made to look like it had been written in a hurry and it held words that Kurt had seriously never knew he'd dreaded.  
  
Perhaps he could and should have just scrunched it up into a ball and threw it in the bin but this letter made sense, and in Kurt's mind - being an experiment was worse than being a mutant- somehow it just did.  
  
Kurt looked at his holographic hands, the fingers formed in twos and then his thumbs. He moved them into fists and then stretched them out. He switched off his hologram.  
  
The paper with the cruel words of the truth had long since dropped to the floor.   
  
Denial could have been a possible way-to-go, but this letter - it made sense.... even for a mutant he was considered odd, scary most of the time.  
  
He saw it everyday when he didn't have his hologram shield on. He saw it in their eyes- Jubilee, Bobby, Ray, Amara and even Kitty, when he teleported next to her or flirted with her. All of them at one point had that look, even Scott who had hesitated with shaking Kurt's hand the very first time they had met.  
  
That look of- you're beyond a freak, dude where did you come from?  
  
This institute was a home for 'the gifted', Kurt frowned, but he wasn't gifted- he was an experiment.   
  
This led to lots of questions such as- was his own mutant powers natural? Did Mystic, his own mother apparently, know that Magneto was using him as an experiment? What was Magneto trying to do?!!!  
  
Kurt got angry which was only natural but he also felt horrible, like he didn't deserve to even be here. He wasn't exactly his greatest fan (a massive understatement), and he probably hated himself more than the average self-disgusted person but now... he couldn't stand it!!!! He couldn't stand the way he looked, what he was; he had no right to be here!  
  
One of his comforts was the fact that although he was a freak but he was classified as a mutant- he was not alone- there were other mutants, people that he could somehow relate to but now…he somehow didn't feel that he could, he was just too different.  
  
  
Kurt paused his line of thought, squeezing his eyes shut to prevent tears. Who else knew about this? Did the professor know?!  
  
Bamf  
  
  
  
  
Author: sorry its not much but I don't think there's much point in writing a huge first chapter if it no ones even reading, so I thought I'd start small and work from there ;)  
  
In next weeks: Kurt seeks out Xavier. What will the Professor say/do?   
  
In other news: who did send that letter?   
  
Plz review!   
  
Ps. don't be surprised if I slip Gambit in somewhere…. I love him!!!  
  
  
  
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	2. Chapter 2: Beginnings and Endings

**Disclaimer: I do not own X-men Evolution, any of its characters..... anything. Please don't sue me... I have no money. Sobs  
  
  
Author: Please review!!  
  
Chapter 2: Ends and Beginnings  
  
The Professor felt his raging feelings and angry thoughts before he heard Kurt's entrance with a bamf  
  
Xavier continued to read his book but couldn't help his own feelings of worry and perhaps guilt from entering his mind and he couldn't completely filter out the thoughts and feeling from one of his most confident-lacking students.  
  
Kurt, instinctively perhaps, had teleported into the shadows of the professor's study, he saw the professor sitting with his back to him reading something but he knew that the professor knew that he was there regardless.   
  
Kurt crept along the shadows of the wall, wondering vaguely if he should rename himself Shadow-Crawler but that could tick-off Kitty, the resident Shadow Cat. The thought was dismissed with a-"nein" and Kurt refocused his thoughts on finding out the truth from the Professor.  
  
"Professor" Kurt's voice was the same soft Kurt but there was something menacing hinted there, "Did you know?"  
  
Of course the telepathic man would have checked on Kurt, when his emotions had peaked enough to hit the rector scale, and they both knew it.   
  
Kurt's tail flickered like the flame of a candle or a cat readying for the kill but the rest of his stance spoke of desperation and a fear, a fear of the answer he was going to get.  
  
A crumpled piece of paper sat on the floor of a seemingly normal teenagers room looking as guilty as a piece of paper could.  
  
Xavier turned around in his wheel chair and looked at him in that usual Xavier way and confidently answered,  
"Yes Kurt, I knew but" now he didn't sound or feel as sure, "we felt that it was appropriate not to tell you".  
  
"We?" the glowing eyes seemed to flash. Kurt was sort of ordinarily hoping that Xavier would dismiss the letter as a trick, now he was not only confirming the truth but also that others knew!   
  
The tension in the room was for better words thick if not solid. Kurt felt almost shaky as his adrenaline faltered for an instant.  
  
The Professor clasped his hands, "Wolverine, myself", he paused not sure how Kurt would take this, "Scott".  
  
Something snapped, it couldn't be heard or seen but something snapped all the same.  
  
"Is that all?" Kurt's voice drawled with sarcasm, the softness replaced with malice.  
  
He couldn't seem to get his brain to work-his friends knew but didn't tell him. He was an experiment-why tell a mere experiment anything; why not just lock him up a lab?! One thing that he had to know though-who sent the letter? And Scott! Scott was someone who Kurt had totally looked up too and wanted to be so badly, he'd trusted Scott!!!!  
  
"Kurt I..." Xavier began with his diplomatic side.  
  
"No, I understand", Kurt interrupted, his entire stance spoke of defeat, "If you don't mind, I think I'll just go.."  
  
Kurt didn't turn way and his eyes stayed looked on Xavier's right up until the flash and-  
Bamf  
  
The Professor futilely tried to contact Kurt but he simply couldn't find him.  
  
  
---------------------------------------------  
  
  
Bamf  
  
  
They'd kept him in the dark, so to speak.  
  
Kurt ported into an alley; it was the only place that had sprung to mind.   
  
He'd used this alley nearly everyday or at least everyday he was running late for school (which was still everyday).  
  
It was the safest place that came to mind, shadowy and safe. No one ever came here, even in the morning.   
  
Kurt looked around regardless, advising himself-caution. He'd felt safe before, at the institute ... but how could he be safe in the company of people who hid his own past, secrets from him?  
  
Maybe this was nothing to do with his own safety, this was something much more important- this was trust!  
  
His tail flickered, nervously, though Kurt didn't have much option, he could swear that his tail had a life of its own sometimes.  
  
He was about to reach his hand over to his watch to put his hologram on but hesitated when he heard the sound of a, perhaps soda, can being kicked into his alley.  
  
At least Kurt was sure that he'd just heard something. He moved closer to the wall, blending into it for camouflage and crouched a little lower. He'd been positive that it'd been too early in the morning (especially on a weekend) for anyone to be around- especially in a dank little alley but Kurt was also intimidated by the cold feeling that travelled down his spine screaming that indeed- he was not alone.  
  
'Maybe I should switch my hologram on anyways', the thought came with nervousness and he was just about to press his holo-watch when from the darkness a rectangular, red glowing object came flying straight towards him.   
  
Kurt's eyes widened in haunted fear that someone was after him!  
  
  
  
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Meanwhile at the Xavier Institute:  
  
At the same time Kurt was going AWOL (absence without leave), Kitty was heading up to his room just to check on him, to make sure he wasn't getting into trouble or upset about something.   
  
Missing breakfast almost like the coming of the apocalypse- when it came to Kurt's World.  
  
His bedroom door was slightly ajar but since it opened both in and out- it could have just been the draft. Kurt always had the habit of leaving his window open and it gave his room a chill but that just meant that Kitty had the perfect excuse to 'let' him hug her.  
  
There was nothing nicer than a hug from Kurt- he was so damn soft.  
  
Snapping out of her daydream, she cautiously opened his door all the way out and walked into his room, wrapping her arms around herself, "Kurt?"  
  
No answer.  
  
"Fuzzy, you here?" she walked a little further in. Nope, no one was home.  
  
Then she stood on it- A bit of crumpled and guilty looking paper.  
  
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Author: oooo gripping stuff...... wonder how Kitty will react, can u guess where the rectangular red glowing objects are coming from?..... Sniff poor Kurt, his morning just keeps going from bad to worse.  
Oh well... anyways- don't forget to review!!!   
  
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**


	3. Chapter 3: Rectangles

**Disclaimer: I do not own X-men Evolution, any of its characters..... anything. Please don't sue me... I have no money. Sobs  
  
Author: bursts into tears I just saw X-men Evolutions Gambit and he's horrible looking!!!!!   
So for the purposes of this fic try and imagine the original Gambit from just X-men- except younger, cuter, read eyes..yadda yadda yadda. No goatee!   
Oh if it helps you's could even imagine the xmen evolution one with red eyes and spiky hair. I apologise to anyone who does like the xmen evolution one...I've only seen a picture...I think its the goatee that's got to me. My limited imagination can't picture Gambit with a goatee.  
  
No worries though- this is still mainly focused on Kurt.   
  
Please review!   
  
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Chapter 3: Rectangles  
  
Kitty re-read the letter. Pushing her long fringe away from her eyes and eventually holding the letter with one hand so that she could bite her fingernails.   
"Kurt where are you?!" she yelled into the silent room.  
Rogue was walking past the door, "what's aw the yellin about?!" and she walked into Kurt's room, her hair a mess as she'd tried to escape upstairs to get to the shower before anyone else. Kitty was biting back tears.  
"I think Kurt's run away", then she turned around to face Rogue with anger, "did u know about this?!" she waved a bit of paper in Rogues face.  
She snatched it off Kitty and started to read and with the revelations of its contents she started biting her lip, "Well...."  
  
  
  
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Back in a dank little Alley:  
  
bamf  
  
Kurt teleported a good few feet up and climbed/ clung to the wall of his safe alley, the rectangular thing exploded and blew a hole in the wall!  
  
"Mein Gott!" Kurt looked down at the sight - that could have been him!!  
  
This was just a really...bad day. Kurt sniffed to choke back any negative feelings he was experiencing- mainly self-pity.  
  
A stranger had now entered the alley. It was dark, no light could reach the alley through the shadows but Kurt's night vision kicked in and he got a visual.  
  
Male, Kurt assumed. A brown trench coat and spiked brownish/ auburn hair - though his hair looked like it needed a haircut, as the spikes were a little messed. It was difficult to tell colours but one thing stood out and it somehow made Kurt feel a little better.  
  
Red eyes, red glowing eyes!  
  
"Gambit knows someone's there!" came a voice with an accent of sorts, though Kurt couldn't identify it as a Cajun accent - mainly because he'd never met another person that had it.  
  
He also wasn't sure what to do; teleporting at this time of day when his emotions could lead to a misfire would be reckless but then again so was 'running' away in the beginning from the professor and the safety of the institute.   
  
He'd also not eaten since yesterday as he'd never stayed for breakfast- his teleporting energy was dwindling. He didn't want to and couldn't go back to the institute.  
  
"What do you want?" Kurt's timid voice came.  
  
Gambit looked around, not too sure where his target had went or how it got away. One thing was for sure- this was a retrieval operation and his target had to be captured alive.  
  
"Nothing mon ami", the guy seemed harmless to Kurt, he had his arms at his sides and had them in a surrendering, unarmed, position, palms facing out.   
  
What should have concerned Kurt were the cards in those palms.  
  
Gambits eyes adjusted to the dark, though it had taken longer and was less accurate than Kurt's eyesight but then again- he just needed a rough area to aim for.  
  
"What's your name, mon ami?" he listened intently for the answer.  
  
Kurt watched this character intently. Something didn't feel right but Kurt was still upset from earlier- trust issues fresh in his mind and he was hungry. He couldn't escape. That he knew. Ignoring the question Kurt asked one of his own.  
  
"Are you a mutant?"  
  
The stranger, Gambit frowned and seemed almost angry at the question, "Maybe".  
He needed to keep his target talking; he had a rough idea of where the target was but not quite.  
  
"Answer me!" this morning had taken its toll, Kurt was tired of games!  
  
"Gotcha!" came a victory mutter and before Kurt could teleport or do anything, the stranger appeared to power up those cards and throw them at him!  
  
Kurt lost his grip on the wall and was thrown off it as the cards struck above and below him and he hit the ground, landing at Gambits feet.  
  
Gambit kneeled down, "You look a lot more different than Gambit thought" although Gambit didn't sound too shocked, Kurt noticed that he didn't dare touch him.  
  
"So you are a mutant", Kurt whispered as he slipped into unconsciousness.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------  
Back it the Institute:  
  
Rogue had replied with a " well.... whether I knew or not, I know now so it doesn't matter- we have to find Kurt!" she shrugged of the question but looked incredibly wary and concerned about the letter.  
  
"Professor!" Kitty screamed in her mind. Refusing to look at Rogue who hadn't really answered her.   
"Kitty?" came the reply that could only be heard in her head from Professor X, " what's wrong?" like he didn't know.  
"Kurt's gone!" she screamed back.  
"I already know Kitty" came the reply in her head.  
  
A pause.  
"How the professor could be so calm?" Kitty muttered out loud to which she could practically feel the professor raise a telepathic eyebrow.  
  
The professor in his usual collected way announced- "We'll launch a search team, Cyrebro detected a mutant power near Bayville about five minutes ago. Its not Kurt but it was right next to where Kurt's power was detected a while back so its worth investigating" Xavier finally continued.  
"The Brotherhood?!" Kitty asked weakly.  
"Unsure currently" came the curt reply.   
  
Then everyone got a telepathic message from the Professor.  
  
"X-men we have a mission. X-Jet Hanger in ten minutes. Scott, Jean, Kitty, Rogue, Raine, Wolverine, Bobby and Amara please assemble".  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Author: Kurt just never seems to catch a break. So did Rogue know?   
  
Please review, they keep me trudging on. ^_^  
**


	4. Chapter 4: Urky Warehouse

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!!! Nothing what so ever! I dont own X-men Evolution or anything to do with it! sobs  
  
Author: yeah I'll apologise in advance for this chapter.....not exactly at my best sweatdrop my proof readers are sorta focused on my original fic..so um..sorry!  
  
Anyways!  
  
Plz review- reviews are good, they're author food...nothing mean...flames scare me or turn me into a right dragon. I also can't imagine that Kurt would be a fan of fire with all that nice fuzz.  
  
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Chapter 4: An Urky Warehouse  
  
They assembled in the hanger, Kitty nervously twirling her hair around her finger- waiting.  
After what felt like eternity the rest of the team walked in all geared up in their x-men uniforms, Scott looking as organised as always but concerned at the same time.  
  
"Like- hurry up!" snapped Kitty as she walked up the ramp into the x-jet and disappeared.   
  
"What's up wae (with) her?" Raine sighed but was looking worriedly at where Kitty had been.   
  
"Kurt" came a simultaneous reply from Rogue, Jean and the Professor (whom had just entered the room).  
  
"Oh".  
  
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In a very Urky Warehouse outside town:  
  
It had been perhaps 45 minutes since the blue fuzzy thing had went unconscious and although admitting it, as a bad guy was probably a criminal offence, Gambit was worried. He pulled his metal pole weapon round from behind his back and poked the kid lightly- just to shift him.  
  
They were in a warehouse just outside town. It seemed like a good idea at the time and it was definitely safe from 'normal' people.  
  
He'd knocked the kid out but then afterwards he'd needed to get out of that stupid alley without waltzing through a town with an animal slung over his shoulder causing an hysteria, so Gambit had dutifully driven his van up to the alley entrance and half dragged the kid into it. Still edgy about contact. The idea of being turned into a blue gambit didn't appeal.... it might be contagious.  
  
Then he drove.   
  
And drove.  
  
Until he was relatively far away from the scene of the crime. Not that anyone would be looking for a fuzzy demon but it was simply caution.  
  
Now Gambit was bored. He sat on an empty upside down crate and played with his deck of cards, putting them in a deliberate order. It was dark with occasional beams of light escaping into the room between the old wooden boards that formed the warehouse.   
  
Every so often he'd try and wake the kid up with a light nudge with either his foot or his prided weapon.   
  
The kid- Gambit mused as he looked at the oddidity in the room- had Dark blue, elf ears and a tail- the tail with a triangular shape- nice touch for a demonic appearance.  
  
------------------------------------------------  
  
  
Kurt was hungry. That was his first thought. Kurt couldn't move. This could not be good. Kurt was hungry.  
  
He tried to move but that was quite impossible with his arms tied behind his back and his legs tied. He'd been chained like some kind of animal.  
  
Kurt was in pain.   
  
Then he heard that damn familiar voice, "Don't move, mon ami".  
  
Kurt opened his eyes and looked up into the reddish eyes of the stranger who was kneeling over him with some cards.  
  
"Um" Kurt squinted as his night-vision took affect, "hi?" he feebly spoke trying to gain some pathetic control of the situation that was his life.  
  
The red-eyed stranger got up and went back over to his crate, blatantly ignoring Kurt for now.  
  
"I don't suppose you could just let me go, ja? and we could call it a day?" Kurt voice sounded strained.  
  
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The kid sounded like he was in pain, not really surprising since he'd hit the ground pretty hard. In fact it wouldn't really surprise Gambit if a rib had been cracked but then again- It wasn't Gambits concern. He shock his head slightly and mumbled so Kurt wouldn't hear him, "its an animal-not a person!"  
  
"What time is it?" the fuzz-ball had curled into a ball, his tied together hands now pressing against his ribs to somehow support and alleviate the growing difficulty and breathing pain.  
  
'Good point' thought Gambit as he checked his watch.....no good- it had stopped.  
  
  
"The right time", the stranger Gambit stood up and looked expectantly at the warehouse entrance.  
  
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Raine was in wolf/dog form. She sniffed the alley floor and 'ewwwwww'. This place was full of way too many 'interesting' smells.   
Wolverine sensed, more than smelled a brimstone trace.   
  
But still, "No Kurt" Rogue looked around fidgeting with one of her gloves just in case.  
  
Shadowcat (Kitty) looked over to Wolverine, waiting for a theory, anything!  
  
"Looks like he was taken by someone. They knocked him out" Wolverine (Logan) deduced.  
  
"How can you tell?" Iceman (Bobby) asked in a none too hushed manner, shaking the atmosphere.  
  
"Dried blood" Wolfsbane (Raine) concluded out loud as she changed back into human form.  
  
"And the walls taken a lot of damage" Cyclops (Scott) had a hand on the wall and one in a hole where the wall should have been.  
  
"Well, can we follow the trail?" Kitty bit her lip.  
  
"Not so much a trail but perhaps if we locate the getaway car/van then..."  
  
"What's that?" Jean interrupted as she lifted up a piece of paper.  
  
"It's a… playing card?" she concluded after realising shed peeked everyone's undivided attention.  
  
  
  
Author: ooooo they're on the trail….kurts in twouble- whoops  
  
  
**


	5. Chapter 5: Kurt's Perspective

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Disclaimer: I own nothing!   
  
Author note: sorry I've not updated for a while ...wasn't my entire fault at least..... but I sorta lost all my story files and had to dig em up. Hmm..Its all very well updating...it would help if I'd actually remember to put the new chapter up!!! Oooopps  
  
Oh yeah- I'm up to "Day of Reckoning Part 2" so I apologise for my gaps in knowledge.  
  
Plz review  
  
  
Chapter 5: A Kurt's Perspective  
  
  
  
  
"What time is it?" Kurt's voice filled the void that was a warehouse. He'd already asked but hadn't really got an answer and in his case the only 'right time' would be when he was at home asleep preferably.  
  
The stranger was silent as if debating whether or not to answer, he was standing up and leaning his chin on his staff thing.  
  
'I'm in trouble and this time no ones coming! They don't even know where I am!' Kurt curled himself into a tighter protective ball and closed his eyes just for a few seconds.  
  
"The right time" came the reply again after a while and Kurt wasn't even sure if he'd imagined it or not, he'd already got that but the stranger seemed to be waiting impatiently for something not to mention the fact that the stranger was talking more to himself than Kurt.  
Gambit couldn't help but feel relief. Magneto was here and he could be released from 'baby sitting' Magnetos latest project. The magnetised watch was his biggest clue to work with.  
  
The fact was that Gambit was disturbed when Kurt spoke more than anything. He'd sort of hoped that Kurt wasn't a mutant but more an animal thing. Magneto called the blue thing- Kurt or a list of numbers. The fact that his hostage had a name was perhaps even more disturbing. Gambit sighed, 'nothing was ever simple'.   
  
Then the massive wooden doors of the warehouse were flung open by a hasty looking, yet organised, Magneto.  
  
Magnetos entire stance demanded respect, showed power and perhaps liked the added bonus of making people uneasy and a little scared. Gambit currently represented the 'people' part of that little equation.  
  
Their eyes met and then Magnetos drew of Gambits eyes to look over at Kurt- our little blue buddy.  
  
Fury was mild for the next action.  
  
A few metal pipes on the floor instantly sprung to life and headed towards Magnetos problem.  
  
'Whoa!" Gambit leapt away as the inanimate objects came straight for him at the wave of his 'bosses' arm and hand.   
"I'm on your side, remember?!" he growled as he ducked another.  
  
Gambit stayed calm, dealing with crazed mutants was becoming a bad habit. He managed to jump over one pipe, got whacked on the back of the legs by another but it was the third strike....  
  
Enough was enough, Gambit reached in his pocket to pull out his last hand of cards and turned around ready to power up. He couldn't believe he was going against Magneto.  
  
  
  
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Meanwhile:  
  
"A playing card?" Kitty ran over to it, finally something they could work with!  
  
"Why does this feel almost familiar?" Rogue knew that answer as soon as she'd asked the question.  
  
Scott was clueless, "What's so important about a playing card?"  
  
Kitty flicked her hair behind her ears, "It was one of the...I guess weapons...that Magnetos new team used".  
  
"I don't get it? How can a playing card be a weapon?" Raine joined in the conversation.  
  
"He used them..like.." Rogue was the one who'd 'fought' the 'King of Hearts' before (The King of hearts being the first card he'd used against her). The problem was that on that previous occasion it wasn't really his hands she'd been looking at.  
  
Kitty came to the rescue.  
  
"He uses his hands to energise things..or at least that's what it looked like. He throws the cards and they blow up!" Kitty looked vaguely thoughtful, "and like it looks totally cool!!"  
  
Scott raised an eyebrow but was relieved that Kitty was finding hope in the situation with her usual comments "yeah, totally cool" he stumbled over the words with a grin.  
  
Wolverine came striding over, "Well those 'totally cool' powers are probably what got Kurt into so much trouble in the first place, half pint".   
He snatched the card with a muttered, "Gimme that".  
  
Kitty looked upset again and in a weak voice, "Kurt...you think he's ok?"  
  
Logan ignored the question. "Raine and I can probably use this to track this Magneto lackey," he announced.  
  
"Aye" Raine changed into her wolfish form and sniffed the card in concentration and walked to the end of the alley and came back.  
  
"Looks our kidnapper used a van for his getaway" she turned back into her human persona.  
  
Jean frowned, "I'm guessing you's can't track a van?"  
  
"I'm guessing you're wrong on that, Red" Wolverine managed a small smile.   
  
"That's so fine!" Bobby contributed to the conversation.  
  
  
"Plus in any case, our kidnappers van...had a leak" Wolverine concluded.  
  
"A nice an easy tracking job" Raine concluded.  
  
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Back at the warehouse:  
  
Gambits great attack hadn't really went well as he was now pinned to one of the wooden walls, a few feet off the ground with a pipe at his throat or at least wrapped round it.   
  
"I told you not to damage him!" Magneto's voice boomed across the warehouse.  
  
Gambit couldn't really reply.  
  
Kurt seemed to wake up from his pain induced slumber. He looked over to find the source of his sleep disturbance. 'Magneto???!!!' His mind screamed. He looked around and twisted over onto all fours, stifling a groan. His kidnapper was looking.....unwell to say the least. He'd be blue any second. 'Hey, we'd match at least' Kurt joked wistfully.  
  
He had very little energy but to Kurt, in this situation, a little energy would have to do!  
  
He had to teleport and he was going to.  
  
And then Kurt's greatest weakness came into play. His gentle nature. He couldn't leave his kidnapper here to die.  
  
  
  
  
**


	6. Chapter 6 : Recklessness

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Disclaimer: I own nothing! I don't own in any way any part of Xmen Evolution- I'm just a crazed fan. I own nothing!!  
  
Chapter 6 : Recklessness!  
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In a warehouse:  
  
Gambits eyesight started to blurr over, "Great the last thing I'll see is you're ugly mush!" he croaked out but it seemed to fuel Magneto's anger even more.  
  
"How dare you!" Magnetos voice boomed.  
  
Gambits staff was loosening in his grip and was threatening to fall, his card supply was gone and soon his life would be too- what a depressing thought, he bitterly reflected.  
  
Bamf  
  
Kurt teleported onto the side of the wall above Gambit and touched the guys shoulder and from there? He did a very dangerous thing- he randomly teleported himself and a passenger away from Magneto, gritting against protesting ribs and a low energy reserve.  
  
Gambit had nearly slipped into unconsciousness when he'd felt the hand touch his shoulder, he'd strained his head round a little and his eyes and saw that it belonged to the fuzzy mutant- he would have struggled away from the hand if he could have but fortunately he couldn't.  
  
  
  
  
Meanwhile in a van commonly termed as the X-van:  
  
Wolverine had let Scott drive but he was starting to regret that little strategic action, "wanna put your foot down, bub!" Logan pressured the young composed man.  
  
It was pretty easy to follow the trail once they'd managed to get outside of the town, their current road was void of traffic and with eager-for-action and impatience kids in the van Wolverine wanted to find the Elf and get this over and done with as soon as possible.  
  
He wouldn't have ever admitted it out loud to anybody (perhaps Charles (Xavier)) but he was worried about the Squirrel being all alone out their with the knowledge he had, he was worried like everyone one else that Kurt had or would do something stupid but he took pleasure from thinking about what he was gonna do to the kidnapper- perhaps decapitation was too quick!  
  
Kitty had chewed her carefully grown nails right down and twirled that strand of her hair into a knot occasionally snarling at Rogue, "what are you like looking at!?"  
  
"Calm down" Scott cautioned from the wheel of the van, revelling in his current role.  
  
Bobby was going to throw a ball of ice at him but was put out by the glares he received from everyone else. He sat sulking with occasional mischievous eyes darting in the direction of the back of Scott's head.   
Scott felt nervous with Bobby behind his but as he focused back at the road he freaked at a flash.  
Logan's/Wolverines sensitive ears picked up a feint bamf in front of them!   
  
  
Author: Been sometime!…oopss..well plz be nice! No flames! But plz review   
**


	7. Chapter 7: Fearing the Unknown

**Disclamer: I own nothing! Not x-men evolution, no characters, no Kurt (sobs), no Gambit (cries harder) and no evan (oh well- shrugs)**  
  
  
  
**  
  
Chapter 7: Fearing the Unknown**  
  
  
**The Middle of a Road -somewhere:**  
  
Kurt Wagner could mildly say that he was having a bad day, he could also scream and have a nervous breakdown about it. The fuzzy blue youth commonly referred to as Elf, Squirrel, Mutant and more past tense- demon, never seemed to catch a break at least up until now.  
  
From the second he'd ported- he felt worse than ever, as usual during the teleportation he'd tried to take the brunt of the trip to protect his passenger even though his passenger was trying to get away from him. Somehow even during the limbo, that was shifting into another dimension, his guest had struggled.  
  
The random teleport had ended on a road, the two nauseated and hurt passengers stumbled on the road and it took a few seconds for Kurt to realise what that loud  
  
BEEEEEEEEPPP  
  
noise was. Kurt's eyes barely focused on the black blur in front of him but even when they did he was shoved off to the side of the road by an unknown force and fell down a small sloping area at the side of it.  
  
Gambit let go off the freak known as Kurt as the newly experienced teleportation came to an anti-climatic end in the middle of nowhere.  
  
Gambit felt sick- a "side effect" he guessed much to his disgust, the bright sunlight hit his sensitive eyes quite badly as he pointlessly fumbled for the shades that he didn't have on him.   
  
Vaguely using a hand to block the light he lashed out at Kurt and shoved the kid away. Gambit wasn't usually afraid of the unknown as most people but he was worried about 'catching'- something which seemed to over-ride the fact that this Kurt had saved him from Magnetos wrath (which was bound to be even worse now).  
  
Gambit turned around, coming face to face with a black van- he had wondered what that vicious noise had been but dismissed it as a side-effect of some sorts- not a black van about to hit him.  
  
  
Kurt Wagner aka. Nightcrawler had rolled all the way down the sloping side of the road to a flat area of sort grass, unconscious. From a distance it looked like he just had a nose bleed but closer up an arm had wrapped around his ribs, his nose was flowing a worryingly amount of bloodstaining the grass and he was barely breathing.  
  
Gambit was sprawled on a road after trying to avoid a van but failing as he was propelled into its windscreen, he lay in front of the vans front two wheels on his side but was still awake, painfully.  
  
  
  
  
**Inside the van a few minutes previously:**  
  
"Crap!" Scott pressed his foot down instantly onto the brake with all his strength but the van still screeched onwards in protest.   
  
Wolverine also exclaimed a remark (however it would have made the rating shoot straight up if repeated) but it certainly got the attention of everyone and was followed by a, "hold on!"  
  
Everyone had luckily wore their seat belts and were not hurt but when they heard that sickening thud they all felt pure fear and Kitty was almost in tears.  
  
The van finally screeched to a complete stop, not that that had stopped Logan from leaping out just before it stopped to see who or what they had hit. All he and Scott had seen was a brown blur of material (Gambits trench coat) and arms but the feint "Bamf" sound was fresh in Wolverine's head and he skidded round to the front of the van.  
  
  
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Author: I never but nearly ran over Kurt… betcha I had a few worried…probably still have a few worried with nearly killing two my favourite characters- but they make this story so at least one has to survive, right? hmmmmm  
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	8. Chapter 8: Found and Coupled

Disclaimer: I own nothing! X-men Evolution and all of its characters do not belong to me! ….and that fact alone makes me cry.  
  
**Chapter 8: Found and Coupled.**  
  
Logan was hunched over an odd teenager, checking his pulse, telling him not to move in a gruff voice.  
"We're trying to help him, not arrest him!" Scott reminded.  
Logan growled, "Fine, you look after him, I'm going to squirrel hunt" he stood up and sniffed the air. Rayne was already in wolf form sniffing the air and disappearing off to the side of the road with Logan in tow.  
Scott was now at Gambits side. He stilled the teenager from trying to shift and ordered Rogue to contact the Professor and Hank. She hoped back into the front seat of the van and used the communicator since the Professor was probably out of telepathy range and had exhausted himself with cerebro.   
"Professor?"  
"I'm here, Rogue".  
"Uh we need you here, we've found that Card kid and Logan thinks Kurt's around" Rogue calmly relayed- ignoring Kitty's calls for Kurt in the background.  
"I'll bring the Blackbird" the Professor seemed to order his thoughts.  
"Could you also bring Dr McCoy?"  
"Are there injured?" Xavier looked troubled.  
"Yeah, at least one. We err…" Rogue settled on being blunt, " accidentally run over that Gambit kid ".  
"Indeed" the Professor raised an eyebrow displaying his concern a little more, "Ok. I'll bring Hank, just try and keep the others calm until then. Xavier out".  
It felt weird for the Professor to use his name with her but she still had orders to follow.  
  
Kitty was quite hysterical and looking around the opposite roadside from Logan and Rayne. She looked over as Rogue cautiously made her way down the slope, "calm down Kitty!" she scolded, "it won't help getting all upset".  
"You're right" Kitty sniffed.  
The both walked along the roadside, searching occasional bushes and then retraced their steps.  
"And here I thought that you never even liked Kurt" Rogue tried to lighten the atmosphere.  
"Yeah…its like I'd do anything now just to here his voice".  
"Yuck, love!" Rogue retorted.  
"Hey, I never said I loved him!" Kitty looked indignant but she couldn't control her dark red blush, "I just…I'm like fond of him".  
Rogue just nodded and wished she'd find her one true love just like Kitty.  
"He's not here", Rogue stopped and made her way back up onto the road.  
Kitty hesitated and looked around one last time and followed Rogue back up onto the road.  
  
Logan suddenly stopped; Rayne simultaneously did the same as they heard faint struggled breathing.   
"Squirrel?" Logan spoke in the direction of the faint sound. A groan was his only reply and Logan ran in the direction, Rayne at his side.   
There, not that far from the road but strategically hidden behind some bushes, was a dark blue figure sprawled on the ground and fighting for consciousness.  
"It all right Kurt, we're here" Logan spoke with surprising softness. Rayne, without need to be told, went to tell the others.  
"We've found him!" she beamed as she ran up to the others, almost forgetting to change back into a human.  
  
The majestic blackbird arrived with impeccable timing and landed on the road, just on front of the X-van and Gambit. Logan carried Kurt up to the road.  
Gambit was secured on a stretcher, with the aid of Jean telekinetically lifting him up without moving his position, and transported onto the Blackbird; Kurt was carried in protectively by Logan and followed by a Kitty.   
Rogue oddly enough stayed with Hank and the stretcher-bound teen. As they sat inside the Blackbird, Hank injected Gambit with a strong painkiller and Rogue held his hand, blushing as Hank looked at her with a curious expression.  
Logan put Kurt the floor with Kitty letting Kurt use her as a pillow in his unconscious state. Logan stood guardian as he watched Hank check Kurt for injury.  
  
The Blackbird took off and flew off in the direction of the mansion.  
  
Scott, Rayne, Bobby and Jean silently took the X-van home to the mansion.  
  
Author (that's me!): so they've been "found"….but I think they both need a little more than a roadside rescue, don't u??  



	9. Chapter 9: Its not Enough

Disclaimer: I do not own X-men Evolution  
  
  
( if i did own it- then i'd own my own computer as well)  
  
  
Author: Damge control....but how do you help someone whos been betrayed, attacked, nearly ran over............and thats just Kurt.  
  
**Chapter 9: Uncomfortable (Its just not enough)  
**  
Kurt Wagner woke up about 12 noon the next morning, understandably confused.   
He looked up at the plain white ceiling with a vague morbid fascination and a thought, 'did Magneto find me?! This' a lab?' and then he slowly looked over to his arm and at the fluids going down through the IV tube and disappearing under his blue fur. He hated things on his fur.   
He then noticed that clutching his hand for dear life, even in her sleep, was Kitty Pride. She was leaning, a little, onto his bed and sitting in one of those really uncomfortable chairs, probably the only thing Kurt couldn't sleep on was an uncomfortable chair.  
"So not a lab" he muttered out loud and listened to the faint beeping of a monitor, though it was not his. He shifted his head to the other side and saw a sleeping youth in another bed, he had a matching IV, some monitoring equipment and a mask to help him breathe easier.   
Kurt sighed, his ribs hurting him with an uneasy pressure on his lungs, and closed his eyes again.   
About 30 minutes later Kurt heard footsteps cross the room and cracked open an eye to see Rogue walking over to the other patient with a coffee in one hand, she sat down and held Gambits hand in her gloved one with a typical Rogue comment, "wake up! I'm starting to get bored, come on! You've scared me already! Happy? Now wake up!" her voice cracked towards the end, "I want a rematch!" (Refers to Day of Reckoning)  
Kurt couldn't help but look back over to Kitty, he nearly jumped six foot (or more) into the air, "Ahh! Geez Kitty!!! Awake already?"  
She just smiled, unusually calm and collected, "How you feeling, fuzzy?"  
"Could be worse…I could be in the hospital wing with machines beeping, a white ceiling, the nice antiseptic smell, friendly people whom I was just so desperate to see again…" he drifted off a little with his sarcastic tone, "wait I am!" his eyes flashed.   
An uncomfortable silence filled the room and Kurt more felt than saw Kitty walk out the room, and it stung him, he felt worse than before- abandoned. He closed his eyes, not sighing this time.  
"You not slept enough elf?" the familiar gruff voice shattered the vague silence. Logan watched Kitty leave and since only one visitor was allowed at a time for each patient, it was his turn.  
He'd walked all the way up to Kurt before speaking but never really got the effect he was looking for. Instead of jumping or getting startled, Kurt reacted with a cool, "Logan".  
"That's Mr Logan, squirrel, but I'll cut you some slack- just for today".  
Kurt took some time to notice a fruit bowl loaded with grapes sitting on a plain bedside table- so did Logan as he speared some and started picking them off his claws to eat.   
"So why'd you leave?" it was such a direct question, perhaps cold in it's phrasing but the fact that it had been asked either showed concern or a general curiousity.  
"Just did" came a sullen teenagers response.  
"Kurt" Logan growled, "Do you realise how worried everyone was?" he was careful not to say "I"- Logan actually liked his scary reputation.  
"Why?" it was half snapped, growled but laced with something that resembled desperation. Kurt looked Logan straight in the eyes as though looking for something.  
"Why?! Because we were worried! We were scared that you'd gotten into trouble" Rogue hollered from across the room, her chair screeched as she pushed it back and herself up. She marched over and stood with hands on hips at the foot of Kurt's bed.  
Logan's actually gulped and he felt like he was in trouble as well; Rogue was not a force to be reckoned with.  
"I can't believe you" Kurt blinked away, he'd deliberately said 'can't' instead of 'don't', and looked over to the fallen Gambit.  
"Can't or won't?" she got no reply, "Kurt? What's got you so upset?…" still no answer, "..Is it that letter?" she ventured and knew she'd hit the mark when he visibly flinched.  
"He saved me" Kurt seemed to realise as he looked at Gambit, "don't remember much, just getting pushed" he mused.  
Rogues anger died down a little, Logan still sat awkwardly in the room and the Kitty walked in- carrying what looked like a collestrail ( hmmm how do you spell that? ) bomb.  
"Hey Kurt! I brought you something to make you feel better" she beamed but got no reply.  
"Can I talk to Logan alone? And could you get Scott and the Professor too?" Kurt asked but it sounded oddly like an ultimatum- do it or I leave now!  
Rogue looked a little uneasy, "Uh Kurt…"  
"Sure, I'll go get them" Kitty almost skipped out of the room, "Happy to help".  
Kurt raised his eyebrows, "Is she ok?"   
Logan just shrugged.  
"Uh Kurt, you probably want to see me as well" Rogue bit her lip.  
"You knew, err know, too?" he looked very non-shocked; "was there a notice or a memo I missed?" he seemed irritated.  
"No, I just, just…with Mystiques, mem, memory…an, bits of yours..i…" she fumbled over the words.  
"You called Kurt?" Scott's friendly voice interrupted the current flow of Rogues stuttering. He strolled easily up to his friend, ignoring the tension from the three. Kitty had literally just bumped into him as he was going to visit Kurt.  
"Yeah I was just curious" Kurt smiled at his friend, took a deep breath but winced at the inkling pain it caused, "were you ever going to tell me about my mysterious, shadowed, past or were you just going to write a novel later on?"  
"Crap!" Scott cussed, "Kurt I, it was just that…I dunno, the professor and Wolverine agreed and it was just that.."  
"WILL SOMEONE JUST GIVE ME A STRAIGHT ANSWER??" Kurt shouted but instantly went into a coughing fit with shooting pain in his chest and sparkly bits affecting his vision, "I just want the truth from the people I trusted," he continued in a whisper and sunk into his bed, "I just want the truth!"  
The Professor took the opportunity to come into the room, "You should rest, Kurt".  
"No!" Kurt's voice sounded strained, "I want to know now!" he spoke like a child almost.  
Scott looked stressed, "We just didn't want to hurt you, you've already been through so much, we thought that we we're protecting you".  
"I could have handled it…being an experiment…but being lied to" Kurt closed his eyes to blink away any rebel tears, "you're part of my family, we're a team…that's what you all always tell me!"  
Scott couldn't find any words, Logan was still sitting uncomfortably, Rogue was hugging herself but the Professor seemed calm and collected enough.  
"Kurt, we thought as a group, that perhaps you were just not ready to find out such a thing. Perhaps we were wrong Kurt, maybe it's just that we got caught- but the fact is that we all genuinely thought that what we were doing was best for you. We are you're family and we are a team but part of that is protecting one another. I admit that keeping secrets hasn't exactly been a success but it was to avoid exactly what has recently transpired and although I am not proud that I kept this from you, believe me when I say that we are all sorry".  
"Yeah Kurt, we are" Logan's rare use of his name sounded almost foreign.  
Scott walked over to Kurt and kneeled down on the floor, touching his friend's shoulder with a simple statement, "Sorry".  
Kurt looked over to Rogue; she just nodded with a weak smiled, her apology.  
He looked at his friends and then down to his hands, "its just not enough!" he shrugged off Scott's hand and looked back up to them, "Its just not".  
  
  
Author: A simple apology...to fix all that??!! yeah right! i refuse to let them off that easily!  
Please review (but no flames)  
  



	10. Chapter 10: Card Tossin Freak

Disclaimer: I do not own X-men Evolution.   
  
  
**  
Chapter 10 :Card tossin Freak**  
  
The effort to talk to and calm down Kurt had well and truly failed, the entire mansion was hauntingly quiet as a result.   
  
Night had crept up and the sun had taken a dive, along with the morale of the place.  
  
Kurt had long since stopped responding to anyone's attempts to get him to talk, in fact he'd rolled over and turned his back on them. Kitty Pryde couldn't even get through to him.   
  
Scott had tried to take all blame but the Professor couldn't help but feel the scratchings of guilt in his own head.  
  
Rogue hadn't talked to Kurt; there was nothing to say and nothing that could make up a quick fix. So she made herself useful, sitting dutifully at the side of one only known to them as -Gambit.   
  
Kurt had absently mentioned the name Gambit before going into his vow of silence.  
  
'Gambit', Rogue mused as she vaguely recalled Kurt's final out burst. He'd told them that their apologies weren't good enough in which a smooth talking Bobby had swaggered in and blamed, Rogue thought hard at the exact words with a sad smile, 'the Card-tossin-freak'.  
  
The word 'freak' had reacted badly with Kurt, needless to say really. He'd actually shouted at them, "The name is Gambit, I believe, and you'd better go easy on him". There was almost a silent, ' I wasted a lot of time saving that dude and I'm not going to let you guys kill him' though Rogue was sure Kurt wouldn't have used the word 'wasted'.  
  
So now she sat almost 'guarding' a guy that had tried to kill her, life made so much sense right now.   
  
She ran a gloved finger in a swirl pattern in his palm, nearly leaping six foot when his fingers twitched. His eyes were squeezed shut, his short spiked hair- damp, and his hand clamped onto hers. It took a few seconds for Rogue to react but as he opened his eyes, she fled the room.   
  
Gambit tried to struggle into a sitting position but his balance was off, a leg in a cast, an arm in a cast as well. His ribs ached but he was grateful that there was no light, his contacts were gone and his shades weren't around. He used his good arm to feel around only to realise his trench coat was gone, replaced with a night-shirt, not the usual hospital gown. Panic set it-he didn't know where he was!  
  
  
He did what any person would do- he lost his cool. His bad arm's hand charged up as well as the other hand, there was nothing in them to kinetically charge so their red glow powered-up furiously, his good hand fumbled towards his leg cast.   
  
He had to break lose; this had to be a lab!   
  
The restricting cast wouldn't let his hand get near anything but continued to charge up nothing, reguardless. His eyes started to minnorly glow as he slowly made to charge his leg cast to break free- fear blocking out common sense that he was about to blow his own leg off to escape.  
  
"Stop!" a female voice pierced the room almost shrieking but he ignored it, she could be part of a test- mind games! He couldn't stand it… he would die free before he'd die in a lab.   
  
The girl leapt towards him, ripping a glove off her hand and touching his face.  
  
He was lost, drowning into sleep, something pulling all of his energy from him.   
  
Another hazy figure appeared, "A large blue ape?" he muttered out loud, "with a collar?"   
  
Dr Hank rushed into the room a few seconds after Rogue. She'd burst into his room, woken him up, nearly screaming, "He twitched!"  
  
He'd feared that he'd been too late but Rogue had bought him some time to get the mutant power inhibitor by draining some of the boy's powers. He hated doing this but it had to be done, surprised at the relief he'd felt as he carefully snapped the bulky collar around his patient's neck. He decided to ignore the 'blue ape' thing.  
  
**Author: he woke up. Gambit chapter mainly. Sorry I've not updated- been feelin a little iffy (err - unwell). Plz review. No flames. Thankyou to all those who have reviewed so far.  
**


	11. Chapter 11: Plans

  
**  
Disclaimer: I do not own X-men Evolution. I write because….well I haven't worked that out yet.  
**  
  
Author: I've givin up on Gambits accent thing- just to let you's know.  
  
Chapter 11: The Cookie Plan  
  
Rogue fell on her bum, her hands glowing slightly, she reached to the bedside table to pull herself up- the table exploded and she was hurled across the room with an "Ahhhhh!" but the agility of Beast carefully caught her.   
"This is just great!" she shouted, " now I can't touch anything!" and she marched out of the room with Hank wisely staying out of the way.  
  
The Gambit kid woke up a little while later feeling pretty much like a piano had been dropped on his head, "Ow" he croaked. He turned his head to find that the girl with the green eyes and white stripe was sitting watching him (again) on a chair; she looked like she'd been crying.  
"What happened?" he queried.  
"You were… upset when you woke up. Your powers…you were tryin to blow off yer leg, I tried too… I stopped you" she bit her lip and her eyes welled up.  
"How did you stop me?"  
"I'm a mutant too, I can absorb powers…" she carefully searched for the words, "and memories".  
At the word 'memory' he struggled into an upright position, "Memories?! What do you mean? You stole MY memories?" he looked panicked, running a hand through his spiked hair.  
"Calm down, I only took a little of them both- just your recent memory with Kurt and Magneto! And about two hrs of your powers" she defended herself in a scared manner.  
He released a breath that he didn't know he was holding, "Ok…I should leave, 'caused enough problems".  
"You can't" she cautioned.  
He furiously narrowed his eyes, the red flashing in them.  
"Not until you're better at least" she amended.  
Gambit leaned back down in obvious concealed pain, "Fine".  
  
  
Professor Xavier sat in his study, Hank had came in and given him a report on how Kurt and the other boy were doing and also how Rogue had absorbed the boys power. Apparently his power was that of being able to kinetically charge objects. The Professor looked at the items on his table- a pack of cards and a boa staff… but his mind strayed back to the look of utter betrayal Kurt had given him in both the medical facility and the time when he'd teleported into his study.  
  
  
One week had solidly passed, the holidays were dragging with a restless boredom and the silence also dragged from one day to another.  
Today the X-man/gal known as Kitty Pride aimed to end one of these problems- mainly the silence with the hopes of ending the bad atmosphere and boredom.  
  
The kitchen smoked with a burning smell right up until noon when the smell of freshly baked cookies finally flooded the mansion.   
  
Everyone had joined together for what was marked as "The Kitty Plan" to (eventually) produce "Cookie Batch 11".  
  
It was a simple enough plan- everyone in the mansion was to join together to make double chocolate chip cookies. The basic logic behind the plan was Kurt and Kurt's metabolism.  
  
A large pile (or scattering) of cookies covered the dining room table, "I think we like totally over-did it" Kitty looked exhausted as she leaned into her chair.  
"Yeah, but I still reckon Batch 5 was the best!" Bobby complained, with crossed arms, from across the table.  
"It had sugar cubes in it!" Storm was leaning against the door with hands on hips, "I think the idea is commendable but giving Kurt sugar-cube fried cookies wouldn't have been the best idea".  
"And who knew that Logan could cook!" Jubilee added with a laugh but was cut short by a yawn.  
"Grunt"   
"Scott's useless though" Jean snorted and playfully elbowed the uptight Scott.  
"Not as bad as Kitty!" he defended.  
"Hey! I think I did good today!" Kitty countered.  
"How many do you think there are?" Rayne groaned.  
"I assume over one hundred" assessed Professor Xavier.  
"Professor?" Scott looked over at his father figure, "Why did you decide to help us by funding this project?"  
Xavier frowned deep in thought, "I was…" he paused, "unsure what else I could do".  
  
Rogue walked in and froze, she just looked at the table and at the exhausted students and …. Storm, Logan…the Professor?! After collecting herself and trying to look at them with a neutral expression (putting the peices of the puzzle into their correct places), "So I can understand Scott, Logan and you Professor resorting to desperate measures but.." she took her eyes off the Professors and glanced to the others, "what's with everyone else?"  
"We were in it for the 'having-something-to-do' thing and if it works -this place is sure to liven up!" Evan explained with some enthusiatic gestures of the arms and hands variety.  
"Uh huh" Rogue shook her head with a smile, "he'll love it, or at least you'll get a reaction from him…that'll be a change" she sat down, "I've been in that darn medical bay all week and he's not spoken once".  
"In Kurt's defence" Bobby teased, "Its not really him you've been in the Medical Bay to see…"  
"Yeah, what's his name again?" Evan smiled.  
"Gambit or somethin…not his real name I guess, but still- its soooo…" Kitty was interrupted.  
"I wouldn't continue that Half-Pint" Logan growled from the corner of the room.  
She stopped, not wishing to irritate Logan, but gave Rogue a knowing wink.  
"You guys should all get your heads outta the gutter!" and Rogue stormed out of the room.  
"Nice, maybe we should keep a score board- how many X-men can we royally tick off in a month?" Bobby chuckled.  
"Shut up!" everyone responded.  
  
**In the medical facility of the Xavier Mansion:**  
  
The one known as Kurt lay on his side, his IV had been removed and replaced with an irritating plaster.   
  
He watched the one known only as Gambit from across the room. Gambits scruffy looking reddish/orangey hair, vague stubble and demon eyes glared back, they hadn't actually properly spoke to eachother during their entire 'holiday' in the medical facility but still they entertained themselves by trying to out glare eachother.   
  
The lights had been dimmed after Hank had discovered how sensitive Gambits eyes were and Kurt had no objections- he had night vision but then again so did Gambit.  
  
The game was occasionally interrupted by Rogue, who visited under the pretence of checking on Kurt but to Kurt at least- it looked like she had a crush on Gambit.  
  
"This is getting boring" the Cajun sounding youth complained suddenly, "wanna play cards?"  
  
Kurt sat up in his bed and for all purposes- looked shocked, "I don't know any card games".  
"Dats ok, I'll show you" the other boy smiled in a seemingly innocent way.  
The demon-looking Kurt looked at the demon-eyed Gambit, "I'm not that stupid, I know what you can do!"  
  
Another glaring match was broken by Rogue's entrance, "Whoa! - Did you two just talk?" she received two stony looks, "How touching" she drawled and took her place on the chair between their two beds.  
  
"So how you feeling?" she asked no one in particular.   
Kurt rolled over and shunned her with his back. Gambit ( the gentlemans that he was) offered her a game of cards to which she snorted, "Nice try but no thanks".  
  
  
  
  
**Back in the Kitchen **it was Bobby who asked the ridiculous yet required question- "So what are we going to put those cookies in?"  
"Huh?" Logan muttered, "What are you on about now?"  
"He has a point Logan" the Professor was thinking... again.   
"That's it- I came, I contributed, I'm leaving" and the one known as Wolverine stalked out of the room.  
  
" It would have to be big…there are a lot of cookies" Kitty paled at the dining tables contents.  
"But tasteful" Storm added.  
"And related to cookies" Bobby seemed serious enough.  
"A very large…."  
"Cookie Jar" the Professor snapped out of his thoughts.  
  
"No way! It would have to be the same height as Kurt with all of these cookies!" -Scott ever the rational one.  
"Nope a cookie jar- Kurt size- is what we need" Jean nodded.  
  
They were all serious, very serious.  
  
  
**Author: a picture on Internutter's site inspired me but this isn't my entry. I'm feelin a little better now. Thankyou's all for the reviews!!  
**  
  
  
  
  
  



	12. Chapter 12: Shared Fears

Disclaimer: I own nothing, i do not own X-men Evolution.  
  
  
  
Chapter 12 :A Demon Thing? (Shared Fears) and a Cookie Jar  
  
  
  
Oddly enough everyone, especially Scott, were taking the giant cookie jar mission incredibly serious as the group of teenagers made their way through the mall.   
  
'A large tempting place full of so many clothes shops' Kitty and Jean had both explained why they couldn't come on this particular mission.  
  
So here was Scott, Jamie, Ray and Evan trawling through a large overcrowded mall looking for a pottery shop that Hank had suggested with a - "They're bound to have one and if they don't-they'll make one!" with an incredible amount of enthusiasm evident in his voice.  
  
The only problem was that those cookies couldn't go stale, realistically they couldn't wait for one to be made specially for them- ie. they needed one ready made.  
  
Evan had no idea why everyone had dismissed his 'wheely bin' idea or for that matter-Logans 'black bin bag' idea.  
  
A large cookie jar it was.  
  
**Back at the Mansion:**  
  
Patience perhaps wasn't a requirement for a fuzzy blue elf, Kurt had decided.   
  
He was ready to leave the medical bay and get back to his own room.   
  
Kurt peeked around the door, making sure no one was in the corridors, he was tired still and couldn't be bothered running and 'porting' was out of the question.   
  
On reflection- his little porting adventures, to recent dates, hadn't been very successful as he snuck a glance at the sleeping kid that, at one point, had held him prisoner.  
  
The blue boy hadn't asked Gambit why Magneto had wanted him in the first place, he got a feeling that if he asked-he wouldn't get an answer.   
  
Gambit seemed to guard more than one or two secrets, his eyes had often taken a mildly haunted look when he thought no one was looking ... and then there was that incident when the secretive teenager had thought that he was in a lab. His reaction had shown Kurt how similar they were in respects to that particular fear.   
  
Perhaps it was a demon thing, Gambits demonic red eyes and Kurt's general appearance-they'd barely talked but they had an unspoken friendship regardless and already a few things in common.   
  
  
Kurt took one last look along the empty corridor and changed his mind, turned to go back inside the medical bay when he smacked straight into Gambit.  
  
"We bustin out?" the kids eyes flashed with a mischievous red glow.  
  
"I was thinking about it" Kurt admitted it, "I'm fine now-got enough energy to get to my room".  
  
"Oh" it was an awkward one, Gambit was obviously thinking about completely breaking out. He stood a little taller than Kurt, supporting himself on crutches and his reclaimed trench coat.  
  
"Where'd you get them?" Kurt noticed the crutches and the coat.  
  
"Just borrowing them from the Office of….." Gambit fished for the name, "err.. Hank and the coat's mine" then he muttered, " I couldn't find my other clothes though".  
  
"That's ok, you can 'borrow' some of Scotts" Kurt grinned at the petty mild revenge, Scott would be very uneasy when he discovered where some of his clothes had went.  
  
"You heal pretty fast" Kurt added as he noticed that Gambit's arm and one of his legs were out of their casts and wrapped in some bandages.   
  
"Yeah-just lucky" there was that haunted look again.  
  
It looked like someone had burned a line down his arm and a line down his leg-then Kurt realised that Gambit had probably taken the casts off himself, somehow, a controlled kinetic charge. The burn marks wept a little and one cast remained on, obviously too sore to remove.   
  
It was quite clever how he'd done it, the IV line was gone and Kurt came to the realisation that Gambit had somehow charged the IV line to cut the casts, obviously charging the lines a little too much but still it was quite smart  
  
**  
Somewhere in the mall (shopping centre):**  
  
They had finally found the correct shop, it was tiny and easy to miss but Evan had located it, accidentally, next to the Pizza Place. The shop keeper seemed eager at the customers as she dashed over to them.  
"Can I help you?" she almost excitedly screamed.  
"Uh yeah" Scott was startled as she'd seemingly appeared out of nowhere.  
"Geez! She's as fast as Pietro!" Evan unconsciously hid behind Scott, the fearless leader.  
"We need a huge jar" Ray ignored the other two and took a step towards the shorter lady.  
"Really, really big" Jamie contributed and joined Ray.  
The shop keepers eyes went wider, "Well we have a varied selection of pottery, including jars-big and sm…"  
"Can you just show us the big ones?" Ray interrupted, looking bored already.  
The shop keeper sighed, "Sure" and calmed down a little-this was going to be an easy sale-no need to over do it.  
  
Who would have believed that a store such as this had such a huge inventory and after only fifteen minutes or so:  
  
There it was-a large cookie jar- Kurtish size, Scott was glad they'd brought the van. A nice plain white coloured cookie jar with the word "Cookies" neatly written in a dark blue text across the side   
  
"Perfect, we'll take it!" and Scott handed over Professor Xavier's credit card with a relieved sigh-the misson was a success.  
  
  
**Scotts room:**  
  
Gambit now wore a mud greenish jumper and very baggy jeans over his cast, he also helped himself to Scotts card deck- it was just lying there after all, in the locked box hidden at the back of his wardrobe along with some other stuff that wasn't quite as useful to the Cajun-mainly a diary, an unopened pack of cigarettes (someone was obviously feeling rebellious for a second) and a valentine card-from someone addressed to Scott.  
  
Kurt came to check on him once he was dressed only to discover that Gambit was having problems getting back up, he'd sat down to put on the jeans.   
  
The Fuzzy Elf helped him to his feet and handed him a crutch, "I'm going to my room, most likely to crash, watch some television, a movie, eat some food, crisps and stuff I stashed under my bed the night before I left, should still be good. Want to join me?"  
  
His options were limited but surprised at his own trust towards the odd looking one-known-as-Kurt, "Sure, not much else to do".  
  
  
Author (me): another week, another chapter... sorry, it used to be a little more regular than that but college has started and so has the need to sleep. This one was pretty average, Kurt and Gambit friendship going on there, Where was Rogue?, everyone shopping, Kitty and Jean somewhere else. The Proffessor trusting Scott with a credit card..... the teenagers dream- a parent handing over a credit card.... anyways plz review. No flames as usual. ^_^  
  



	13. Chapter 13: Never let go!

Disclaimer: I do not own X-men Evolution  
  
**CHAPTER 13: Never let go!**  
  
It was the next morning at the Xavier Institute and although the previous night had been mildly stressful for the mutant known at Hank (mainly the part when he discovered that both his patients were missing-somehow) all was well.  
  
The Professor had informed him that the two runaways were in fact 'chilling out' in Kurt's room, most likely eating them all out of house and home.  
  
  
The night for Kurt and Gambit had been eventful-they had talked. Gambit never asked Kurt why he'd saved him- he was beginning to understand the answer and in exchange for that understanding he'd told Kurt his name.   
  
**  
Next morning (way too early):**  
  
Someone knocked at the door, Gambit shifted in his sleeping bag that Kurt had ever so kindly provided for his sleeping comfort. It was a nice shade of blue.   
Gambit had managed to sleep in worse conditions than that of a sleeping bag on a hard floor.   
  
Kurt groaned as the person knocking the door had not relented, "Fine!" he got up and swung the door open furiously.  
His anger died away as he saw who it was, "Is there something you want, Kitty?"   
"I was like…well we were wondering if you would like to come to a picnic?" she twirled a finger around some hair, she knew that always got through some of Kurt's worse moods- blatant nervousness and sadness. She gave him the puppy-dog eyes and chewed her lip nervously and for a moment it seemed not to be working.  
  
Kurt sighed, relenting, "Depends, is Remy allowed?"  
  
"Who?" Kitty seemed genuinely curious and for a fleeting moment she wondered if Kurt had conjured up an imaginary friend.  
  
"Gambit" Kurt corrected at the appearance of Kitty's confused face.  
  
"Oh...so he has a real name" she shook her head and got back on track, "Of course! He's like totally invited- as long as he doesn't try to kidnap you again!" she laughed at her own joke and provoked a timid smile from Kurt.  
  
"Ok then, we'll be there…. what time?"  
  
"Um…" Kitty drifted into deep thought, "12 noon- then we'll call it brunch" and then she skipped away.  
  
"She's weird" the now awakened Remy complained, "and loud".  
  
"You think Logan will notice that you drank his whiskey?" Kurt seemed worried.  
  
"Probably noticed yesterday, if he asks- it was pain relief" Remy retorted with a grin and then a frown as he pushed his 'borrowed' shades over his sensitive eyes.  
"  
You shouldn't drink at your age" Kurt cautiously began.  
  
  
"You're right" came an instant agreement with another groan.  
  
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The sun was splitting the trees and the sky was blue. It was a really good day for a picnic, warm but with a welcome breeze.  
  
Kurt slowly made his way across the Xavier Institute grounds toward a clearing where they always had their 'family' picnics.   
  
He really wished that his friend had come with him but Remy had told him that he had some things to do and that he'd catch up later.   
  
Kurt had told him not to wait too long.  
  
The shapes of the others appeared, not very far ahead of him, and Kurt was mildly surprised to discover that everyone was there! The Professor and Logan- yet again- included. They must be feeling really guilty Kurt realised but he was still angry.  
  
"Hi" he cautiously waved with a weak smile.  
  
"Hey!" Kitty bounced up to him looking a little too happy.  
  
Everyone seemed cheerful at his arrival, "This is interesting" Kurt mused out loud.  
  
His tail seemed to be back in the swing of things…so to speak. It was acting like everything was just fine!   
  
Kurt was just a touch more edgy.  
  
There was a small mound in the centre of the group covered in a picnic blanket.   
  
Kurt approached it curiously.  
  
Logan approached Kurt and *skinted* his claws out and for a moment Kurt looked startled but mustered enough guts together to look Logan straight in the eyes.   
  
He was shocked when Logan smiled and used his claws to pull of the blanket- revealing a massive cookie jar.  
  
Kurt let a smirk twitch at his lips, "A large cookie jar" his tail swished rapidly.  
  
"With cookies!" Scott was almost bouncing as much as Kitty had been earlier.  
  
"Its an apology Kurt. Words cannot express how sorry we….", Xavier included himself, "I am sorry for keeping your past from you. The truth is Kurt… we don't know what Magneto did to you. We still don't know what he wants with you but I always keep saying how we're a family and" he sighed with a small smile, " its time we acted like one. All of us- together. Our common bond maybe our mutant gifts but it should also be evident in our trust in each other".  
  
Logan's gruff voice continued, "What he means in my terms is- we're sorry, I especially should have known better with my own past record. But kid we're not just a team, we're a family and we're asking you to forgive us as both your team mates and family".  
  
Everyone nodded and then Kitty stepped forward, "Kurt?"  
  
He turned to look at her, "I wasn't very nice to you when we first met but I was stupid and self-centered. You're a great person Kurt and I want my friend back- happy and smiling" her eyes welled up.   
  
No one else had anything to contribute -but pleading eyes.  
  
Kurt looked down at his feet for a long long few minutes, it would take some time to forgive them but…  
  
"So…" Kurt scratched the back of his head, trying to relax the atmosphere, "are there actually cookies in there?" a grin broke out.  
  
  
No one reacted but slowly they started to smile.  
  
He never waited for a further responce as he dived in.  
  
  
----------------------------------------------------------  
  
Gambit hopped out of the window, landed on the ground and ran, leaving his old leg cast in Kurt's room with a message scrolled on it-   
  
I have some things to do but I'll catch you later. Kurt you're lucky. Never let your friends, your family- go!   
Remy.  
  
  
  
**  
THE END**  
  
  
  
Author: well that's it…I should have done more with it but I'm sure someone out there can and will do a better one than me one day. Oh and i know Gambit can't heal that fast but since its my fic....well..... ;)   
  
**plz review.**  
No flames.  
  
  
  



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